1. Field
This invention is generally related to lighting systems, and more particularly to an emergency lighting system.
2. Background
During a power failure and/or an emergency situation, it may be necessary to provide some form of backup lighting system and/or some form of egress lighting guide. It is not uncommon for residential and commercial structures to have backup lighting systems, such as portable and fixed battery powered lights and fixed lights powered by batteries and/or redundant power systems. However, portable systems, such as flashlights, may not be readily available or operable, for example due to a battery failure, at the time of the emergency. Fixed lighting systems may fail to provide effective egress lighting as they may be to too scarce, or located at such a distance or location that the user may not be able to perceive or follow any light provided by such systems. Existing structures and building designs already incorporate common and standard sized electrical boxes for housing devices such as electrical receptacles at locations within the structures, including on egress passageways. However, emergency lighting systems are generally provided at other locations, and if associated with common electrical boxes, existing systems tend to eliminate the non-emergency function of the junction box, or provide emergency services inefficiently or at too high a cost.
Other attempts to provide emergency or secondary lighting include: U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0244880 entitled “Concealed Emergency Lighting Equipment with Complete Retrofit Housing and Method of Installation,” filed by Rapeanu, et al., published on Oct. 1, 2009; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0190335 entitled “Compact Emergency Lighting System,” filed by Wong, published on Jul. 30, 2009; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0073117 entitled “Configurable Safety Light Receptacle,” filed by Misener, published on Mar. 27, 2008; U.S. Pat. No. 7,645,047 entitled “Deployable Emergency Lighting System,” filed by Martinez, issued on Jan. 12, 2010; U.S. Pat. No. 6,986,589 entitled “Apparatus and Methods for Providing an Emergency Lighting Augmentation System,” filed by Evans, et al., issued on Jan. 17, 2006 (all of which are incorporated herein by reference). However, these attempts fail to provide a convenient and inexpensive retrofit device for providing emergency lighting using existing standard electrical housings, such as single gang housings, and with components suitable for emergency power operation.
Therefore, there is a need for a lighting system that efficiently and automatically provides illumination during an emergency situation, such as a power failure, and that may provide illumination guidance, and that can be conveniently incorporated into existing residential and commercial structures and design standards.